UkNetworkMeeting2008

Table of content :

Minutes/notes

UkNetworkMeeting2008MinutesSaturday

UkNetworkMeeting2008MinutesSunday

When and where?

9/10th Feb 2008 at the Sumac Centre, Nottingham.

Please arrive on Friday 8th Feb

Who? -> Registering

Please register here: UkNetworkMeeting2008Who

Practical Info (venue/food/transport etc)

Please go to: NottsNetworkMeeting2008Info

Aims

• Engage new people in the UK IMC Network
• Look at new ways of organising, communicating and empowering network members to create new iniciatives within the network
• Resolve difficulties over editorial decisions

Structure

Mick's original proposal

It's proposed to have one day which makes sense and is welcoming of people new to the network. Manchester IMC for example is having a recruitment drive in January and new people will be invited to the imc-uk-network meeting.

The other day can be more detailed and while sessions should be facilitated to allow input from people not familiar with the network, it's a day when it's ok to go into detail about existing issues.

Ammended proposal by Wietse and Mick based on feedback from the indy lists.

The proposal is that there is a first session that is divided into 2. Those who want to go to the introduction to Indymedia session, and those that want to go to the Intoduction to Indymedia UK's current issues. In this way there can be time on the first day for discussing existing imc uk network issues without putting new people to the process throught that meeting on the first day.

Session based structure with facilitators

It get the most out of the gathering it's proposed that days are broken up into 4 sessions and that each session has a different animator.

The job of the animator is to

• facilitate the session or to find someone to do that
• try to make sure that people who are interested in that subject get what they want to get out of that session
• make sure that most aspects are discussed by timekeeping the session

This involves a bit of homework but hopefully not too much. Most of it will be inviting comments on the session and trying to work out a strategy for helping discussion without guiding the direction of decisions.

If you are interested in something that isn't covered by a a session here then please add it.

Program

Friday

time	session	location	more info
6-onwards	Welcoming folks	Sumac	Get meal tickets here

Saturday

time	session	location	more info
10-10.15	Welcome	Sumac	(housekeeping etc)
10.15-11	Agenda redesign	Sumac
11 - 12	Introduction to Indymedia	Sumac
11 - 12	Challenges faced	Sumac	'What challenges does Indymedia UK face now'
12 - 13	Future (Part 1)	Sumac
13 - 14	Lunch	Sumac
14 - 15.30	Startpage	Sumac

12.15-1.45	Session 2	tbc	'How Indymedia communicates and makes decisions'
1.45-3	Lunch	Sumac
3-5	Session 3, workshop A	tbc	'Technical tutorials'
	Session 3, workshop B	tbc	'tour: imc backoffice' + Looking at startpage designs/ideas
5-6	Plenary session	Venue 2
7	Food	Sumac
7.30 onwards	Bar open	Sumac

Sunday

time	session	location	more info
10-11	Breakfast	Sumac
10-11	Hacklab Session	Sumac	?
11-1	Session 4, A	tbc	'Pt1: Is there a Future for Indymedia?'
	Session 4, B	tbc	'Pt2: If there is a future: What do we want Indymedia to look like?'
1-1.45	Lunch	Sumac
1.45-3	Session 5	tbc	'Editorial Decisions'
3-5	Session 6, A	tbc	'Indymedia Video and Audio'
	Session 6, B	tbc	'New server'

Issues that need to be fitted into sessions.

Calendar - dealing with spam and integration into the UK indymedia site.

Shiar's reviving/restructuring indymedia uk proposal

Saturday

Session 1:

A: Introduction to Indymedia

Animator: Anap

Notes:

history introduction, - why it was created

• delete intermediary between actors and audience
• take away commercial relationship by which news are sold and bought
• right to reply - etc

expansion - first stages

• principles of unity and membership criteria
• software, servers available

localisation - the uk site

• imc uk and decentralisation
• imc london,
• relationship between london and uk site, then global site.

B: What challenges does Indymedia UK face now

Animator: ??

Notes:

A session to clear the air and examine what problems and frustrations people have about the current Indymedia process.

This session is designed to run in parrallel with an Introduction to Indymedia workshop.

Session 2:

How Indymedia communicates and makes decisions

Animator: Mike imc scotland

Notes:

A look at how indymedia communicates and makes decisions. The session will be roughly devided in 2 parts

• part one explains how communication and decision making currently happens
• part tow looks at problems and alternatives to the current way of working

Part 1: How communication happens

• email lists - http://lists.indymedia.org
• irc - irc.indymedia.org channel #uk
• inside mir - login page https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/uk/servlet/Mir
• local meetings - organised on the local imc list
• network meetings - organised on the imc-uk-network list

Part 2: Problems and Alternatives

Has recent history shown us that there are problems in the decision making and communication structure? We look at what those problems are (if they exist) and what causes them and possible solutions.

Session 3:

A: Technical tutorials session 1

Animator: mick fuzz

Notes:

Mir Feature Creation: (maqui, and shiar) Even if you are used to Mir, the act of getting a feature together and uploading all the images needed and getting the links right is a bit tricky. This session will either refresh your memory or give you the skill you need to get going.

Video / Audio Encoding: (Mick Fuzz) Finally there are some applications that make video encoding easier and some open source documentation to go with it.

Equipment needed: projectors x 2 (more if possible)

B: tour of imc backoffice

Subject: going on a tour through the indymedia backoffice - wiki, irc, mailing lists Animator: ionnek (just a proposal, in case pp don't have better things to do) For whom: I imagine this might be interesting for people who are new to indymedia

Notes: Indymedia uses many online communication channels to work on all aspects of the project: producing features, reporting big and small events, collaborating locally and globally, socialising, inventing horizontal organising structures...

While "social networking" today mostly means using things like facebook or myspace, the indymedia project shows that online social networking can be done with very simple tools. Working together creates strong networks in social movements, builds trust and friendships (and sometimes conflicts, of course. And sometimes cliques). O The global indymedia network is special because because many collaborations are transnational on a day to day basis through online communication. And when people who are involved in this "backoffice" go travelling, they often meet other imc volunteers face-to-face. Online communication channels can be weird - they develop their own etiquette, "do's" and "don'ts", and indymedia is no exception.

Using the imc backoffice can be a great, rewarding experience. But as a self-organised disorganisation, it can also be confusing. This workshop would aim to put up a few practical "signposts" with and for people who are interested in joining the project. (Open and closed lists, publicly and privately archived lists, wikis, different uses of irc chatrooms, basic commands...)

A point of discussion could be in which ways the technical development of "social networking" software can or can not be used for political organising. See http://dev.riseup.net/crabgrass/.

:C possible if needed

Subject: Animator:

Notes:

Sunday

Session 4:

A: Part 1 Is there a Future for Indymedia?/What do we want a future Indymedia to look like?

Subject: When Indymedia started almost 10 years ago, the net was to most people new and the ideas of posting news was very new. Now everyone does it - web 2.0 with the explosion of blogs (text, audio and video) and social networking (myspace, facebook and so on), video and audio upload sites (such as YouTube) means many users now have their own web presence where they can post what they like how they like; why do they need to post it on Indymedia? As the web moves into 2.0 and 3.0, it poses challenges for the Indymedia system and way of doing things: Do we need to change? If so, how do we need to change? What if we don't change? Would change help or hinder us from fulfilling our mission?

What are the changes we can make to Indymedia UK in the short term to make it do more of the things we want it to do. What are the technical advantages of the current system (Mir's static HTML structure and mirroring) and the restrictions we have to work within caused by that technology (as Mir's lifecycle as software is nearly over).

How can the start page be radically changed? (also have a look at the current startpage proposal) and what other UK imcs have proposed http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25653 ? Would Indymedia UK be more effective if it be broken up into smaller editorial and technical working groups with more autonomy? What functionality should v2 indymedia have? What do its users like to use or have requested and how does it fit with our mission?

Should we start thinking about another open posting technology to replace Mir? What about Oscailt http://www.indymedia.ie/oscailt/ and the lessions that could be learned from co-ordinating tech development more?

Animator: Tom (from IMC Bristol) & Maqui? / Shiar?

Notes: Articles to look at -

• From Indymedia to Indyjournalism http://investigativeblog.net/?p=4
• Bristol Indymedia \x91Future Directions\x92 Document 2007 http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25653
• Shiar's email to lists: http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-process/2007-December/1204-k4.html and follow ups.

B: -

Animator:

notes:

-

Session 5:

Editorial Decisions

Animator: ?

Notes:

If you look at the archives of the imc-uk-features list there has been a lot of discussion about wether a specific article should be hidden or published. This debate has been very divisive (see the UkModerationAtzmon wikipage). This network meeting seems like the best place to look at the editorial guidelines of the UK and discuss them in relation to this article and potential future issues.

Gilad Atzmon article, a suggested approach to the debate:

1. Is he racist?
   • If so ban him,
   • If not then 2
2. Is an article he has written racist?
   • If so then hide it
   • If not then don't hide it.

An additional brief could be to discuss in general how to deal with disputed posts. Should they be hidden, put in some kind of moderation queue, be left on the newswire? When is a post disputed? Should imc-uk admins participate in heated debates on the newswire ("don't feed the trolls" vs using indymedia as a plattform for debate) It may also be worth talking about the style of discussion of imc-uk-features and trying to come up with ideas to make the process less adversarial ...

9/11 related posts

comment ionnek: I think that editorial decisions on newswire and features are an important space to negotiate where imc uk stands politically (what we consider as discrimination, sexism etc). But sometimes, these debates are so extensive that they make the features list unusable. Can we create a space where these debates don't lead to disruption of the imc day to day work? Often, our political debates are practical, expressed in the decision to focus on certain actions, demos or topics. Or they happen in the fringes of local meetings. Is there a way to make these "practical debates" visible across the uk network?

Session 6:

A: Indymedia Video and Audio

Animator: Wietse / Mick fuzz

Notes: This session looks at Video and Radio project happening now. It also covers ways that Video and audio can be made more visible, easier to search, and syndicate.

Some of the things that can be done are making some changes to MIR within the system or creating separate websites, http://video.indymedia.org.uk and http://audio.indymedia.org.uk which import (aggregate) the video and audio content from Indymedia.

B: New Server

Animator:

Notes:

Update on where we are with it, planning, help that can be offered ...

Other Stuff: Publicity and promotion

Printed Materials

It would be great to get a simple printable poster and flyer for the event when the dates have been decided. Can anyone take this on?

Email list liason

Most people in the network are on the imc-uk-features or imc-uk-network list, but not all. So it would be good to have people promote and remind people about the gathering and how it impacts on the specialist groups. If you feel you can do this please put your name down and start agitating?

* video - mick fuzz

* photo

* radio

* tech

• nottingham gathering 2008: